'Smart' condo tracks seniors' doings

Jodie Sinnema, Postmedia News11.22.2011

Dr. Gary Faulkner, left, and David Dyer worked in conjunction with a team of researchers and IBM to put sensors in an independent living suite at the Glenrose Hospital to track seniors' movements and behaviour.

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Edmonton researchers have tracked the daily movements and activities of a group of seniors living in a sensor-laden "Smart" condo to find out how to help them live independently.

From June to October, six seniors preparing to go home after rehabilitation from conditions such as stroke, fractured hips and Alzheimer's agreed to live in a self-contained independent living suite in the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. That one-room suite was built years ago to help patients and their elderly spouses or family members gain confidence by practising living independently before heading home.

But in a unique pilot project with the University of Alberta and IBM as partners, the Glenrose test suite was fitted with tiny pressure, motion or electrical sensors put on cupboard handles, bathroom and bedroom doors, in mattresses and chair cushions, or on coffee pots and light fixtures. Every time the doors were opened, the bed was used or the coffee pot was set to percolate, data was collected and the senior's movement was tracked.

For instance, the information collected could tell hospital staff if the senior was going to the bathroom too often at night, indicating that incontinence was a problem. Researchers also used the data to determine if the patient was taking his or her medication at the right time, since a drug dispensing device was also equipped with a sensor.

The data also provided information about whether seniors took their medications with meals, since sensors indicated when the stove was turned on or if the fridge was opened.

"We are interested in having a means of actually looking at activity levels, (because) activity levels and their regularity in elderly patients is important," said Eleni Stroulia, researcher and chairwoman of service systems management at the U of A.

A senior, for instance, who goes to the kitchen and opens, shuts, then reopens cupboard doors, but doesn't turn on the water faucet or touch the stove settings, may have a cognitive impairment, Stroulia said.

A patient who wanders down a hallway, through the living room and back in the middle of the night might need more assistance to find the bathroom.

The data could be sent to family physicians to create care plans. But instead of appearing in tabular form, the data was funnelled into a program that recreated the Glenrose suite in a virtual environment peopled by animated avatars, that is, online visual representations of the actual patients, performing the same activities.

"The virtual world simulation is providing the same information in a more intuitive manner," Stroulia said.

It allows occupational therapists, doctors, industrial designers or students training in various health professions to better imagine a senior's activities, or see how certain buildings might impair independent movement. Better interventions can then be tested using virtual reality and sensors, rather than more invasive cameras and video, Stroulia said.

In the future, she imagines patients could agree to wear heart-rate or blood-glucose monitors at home. If they took their insulin or heart medications at the right time, their heart beat or blood sugar levels could be further evidence of compliance with the medical regime.

All that could keep patients home longer, or guide their health team to provide additional resources.

"If we can put them in an environment on their own and see how things work out, then we can make better recommendations about whether they can live on their own or need further support or need additional home care," said David Dyer, director of nursing at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and clinical lead in the Smart Condo project.

Dr. Gary Faulkner, director of research and technology development for the Glenrose, believes companies building new seniors' facilities might also put sensors into some suites so operators could accept patients with more complex health problems.

A bigger Smart Condo for further research is being built in the U of A's new Edmonton Clinic Health Academy west of the University Hospital.

jsinnema@edmontonjournal.com

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